


Hospital

by nyagosstar



Series: Fellowes Mews [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-08
Updated: 2012-10-08
Packaged: 2017-11-15 20:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/531529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyagosstar/pseuds/nyagosstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You have got to stop pissing people off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hospital

**Author's Note:**

> This was looked over by my awesome beta, sainnis who not only created this 'verse, but who gently reminds me that you can't have one clean hand if, in the sentence before, both hands were covered in blood. She rocks.

A simple flash of metal. It could have been a watch, one of the sea of medals pinned to the chests of important generals. It could have been the sun reflecting off a brightly polished bit of jewelry. Ed couldn’t say exactly what it was that caught his attention—perhaps it was nothing more than years of ingrained paranoia. The flash caught his eyes and he knew it was not a good thing.

“Get down!” He leapt from his station towards the podium, pushing Roy to the ground even as the shots began echoing across the square. Across the stage, those gathered to speak and support Roy reacted to the sound and command of Ed’s voice, flattening themselves against the stage. Around them and out in the audience, Ed could see his men moving to intercept the shooter, as those on the stage formed a barrier between Roy and the audience.

Everything had been going so well, too. The number of threats Roy received on a daily basis had been dropping off and they hadn’t had an incident in a public forum for months now. Ed didn’t think he’d be able to relax, exactly, but he didn’t think they’d have people shooting at them anymore.

“Ed?”

Beneath him, Roy turned his head to the side and tried to move. Ed thought he was probably crushing him, but until the danger was over, Roy could stand a couple bruises. “Just keep down. This’ll be over soon.” The shooting stopped and he saw three of his guards leading the shooter away. “Somebody get Havoc to bring the car around. You’re going to have to finish your speech another day.”

“Ed.”

“I don’t really want to argue about this now. Security means I win the argument. You can reschedule after I’m sure the venue is clear and the people inside don’t want to fill you full of holes.” Ed made a slow survey of the crowd, trying to decide if he wanted to erect a wall with alchemy to get Roy off stage without any risk or if he could trust his men to do the job. “Though, a hole in your head might be good for letting out some of the ego. I don’t know.”

“Ed.”

“Shut it, Roy. Give me a minute. You can yell all you want when we’re in the car.” Ed looked over his shoulder. “Where’s Havoc?” he shouted. “You guys get ready to move. We’re going to back up from the podium and get to the car. Once we’re on the way, your job is to make sure everyone else gets in a car and gets back to the manor. We’re going to want to see everyone this evening.” That he’d learned how to deal with the political and personal ramifications of assassination attempts wasn’t something Ed ever expected from his life. Yet here he was, and he knew that neither he nor Roy would get any sleep if they didn’t put eyes on the people who’d been with them on the stage.

“Havoc’s here, sir.” One of the guards darted from offstage to deliver the message. “The hall is secure.”

“Yeah, we thought it was secure until some asshole started shooting at us, too.” He moved off of Roy, but kept low to the ground. “All right.” He directed his voice to Roy and the guards who would accompany them. “We’re going to back up off the stage, as soon as the Prime Minister can peel himself off the floor.”

“Ed.” Roy’s voice was quiet and strained, and Ed forced his attention from their surroundings to Roy.

“What’s wrong?” Under his fingers, Ed registered for the first time the, uneven rhythm to Roy’s heartbeat and his shallow, labored breaths. He’d been aware of them only distantly, thinking them signs of stress.

He rolled Roy onto his back and bit back a curse when he found Roy’s stomach covered in a spreading pool of red. “All right. Okay. Change of plans.” His flesh hand went instinctively to the wound, applying pressure even as Roy winced and clenched his teeth. “We get to the car and then we get to the hospital.” He touched Roy’s face with his clean hand. “It’s not so bad. You’re going to be fine.”

Roy nodded. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Right.” He pointed to two of the guards. “You’re going to help me move him,” he nodded to another. “You make sure the path is clear and the rest of you make sure nothing else gets through.”

Under Ed’s careful eye, the two guards got Roy off the ground, applying pressure to the wound while Ed did his best not to think about how large the pool of blood was on the stage. He purposefully blocked away his feelings of helplessness and confusion and his intense desire to be the one carrying Roy to the car. He could see Roy, he knew Roy was breathing and that would do until they were somewhere safe. Until then, it was enough to orchestrate their exit, to know what was going on with the guards and the people around them and believe he was doing everything he could.

Havoc had the car running and waiting for them, and it was only a minute’s work to install himself and Roy in the car. Ed sat with his gun out and alchemy at the ready, as Roy stretched out on the backseat of the Roadster, his head resting in Ed’s lap. As they sped from the meeting hall, Ed was able to relax a little more with each mile, every moment closer to doctors and medicine and Roy not bleeding.

“You have got to stop pissing people off,” Ed said when Roy’s eyes started to slide closed. An injured pride was guaranteed to be the best way to keep Roy awake.

Roy coughed a laugh. “How do you know they weren’t aiming for you and just hit the taller target?” 

The wound couldn’t be too bad if Roy could still insult him. “Who’s so short a gunman couldn’t find him on a stage under a spotlight?” he asked, almost fondly. He glanced at Havoc in the rearview mirror, who inclined his head to the building up ahead. “We’re almost there, so don’t worry. Hughes and Hawkeye can take care of things for the night. And tomorrow, prepare yourself for long, insanely boring meetings about increased security and new protocols on how we manage crowds.”

“Do me a favor and don’t fire any of the guards tonight.”

Ed barked out a sharp laugh. “Yeah, like I’m going to let the asshole who let the asshole with the gun in the room stick around.”

“Please. Wait until morning before you make any decisions. They have families to take care of and they risk so much working for us.”

“For which they are amply compensated. And you would think that if they were so fucking concerned about their families, they would do a better job of making sure nothing happens to mine.” Ed choked to a stop, his hand tightened into a fist and it was all he could do not to put it through the window.

“Please?”

Ed blew out a breath as they neared the hospital. He knew he could avoid answering and in moments they would be swamped with nurses and doctors and Ed could do whatever the hell he pleased. But Roy asked it of him and how could he say no? “If you promise not to die.”

“Done.” Roy grinned up at him, the amused expression strange on his pale face. “You know I got the better of that deal, right? I’m going to be fine. This is just a scratch. But you have to be nice to your staff.”

“I didn’t say anything about nice. I just said I wouldn’t fire them. If they quit of their own volition, I can’t help that.” The door opened and the best doctors that Central Hospital had to offer waited in the cool night air to tend to the most important man in the country. The staff moved him from the car and rushed him inside with all the competence and efficiency that they’d come to expect on their visits here.

“I hate this fucking place.”

The smell of Havoc’s cigarette filled the air, the bitterness filling Ed’s lungs. “They do good work here, boss.”

“I hate that they have to.” Ed sighed, thinking of the long night ahead of him. “Can you get on the phone and get all of my guards here? Tell them if they’re not here in an hour, they shouldn’t bother coming back. We’re about to have an abrupt conversation.” He rolled his shoulders back and headed inside. “I’m going to go stalk surgery until they get here.”


End file.
